


The Flip Hunter Time of Your Life Exhibition

by bookchan



Category: And Both Were Young -Madeleine L'Engle
Genre: Boarding School, F/F, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-15
Updated: 2013-12-15
Packaged: 2018-01-04 18:18:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1084164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookchan/pseuds/bookchan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This exhibition of Flip Hunters artwork focuses on works she created while attending boarding school in Switzerland.  (Art not included)</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Flip Hunter Time of Your Life Exhibition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [queenbookwench](https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenbookwench/gifts).



> This story works off the assumption that Flip is in roughly 8th grade and is about 12/13 years old at the start of the book.

**Two Girls Playing Jacks**

**  
**1949

Flip Hunter

On loan from the private collection of Dr. Erna Weber

Two girls sit in the foreground playing jacks, while in the background out of focus are girls talking and playing ping pong.  It is believed that two of Flip Hunter's school friends, Jackie Bernstein and Erna Weber were the models for this picture.  These two models appear in several other works by Hunter during this time period.

**~Winter 1949~**

The caricatures were the start of if, but occasionally Philippa got a request for a more serious portrait from one of the other girls.  One of the first ones she painted was of Jackie and Erna.  Erna had pulled her aside after dinner one night and requested it as a holiday gift for Jackie's mom, since her Mutti said that she couldn't visit them over Christmas break.  Flip felt a bit uncertain about it at first because she didn't think she'd be able to do her friends justice, but after some cajoling on Erna's part agreed to give it a try.

"Kids, I'm just going to do a few quick sketches of you sitting on the floor playing jacks first," Philippa said as she tried to arrange them to her satisfaction.  "Just remember these poses and hold still for about 10 minutes.  That should give me enough time to get in a quick sketch."  Flip grabbed for her pencils and sketch book once she thought they were in a good position.  

"I'm trying to give your Mom a sense of the friendship you have with Erna." She added.

"If you want that, then you should get the two of us sitting on the couch talking," Jackie said before absentmindedly grabbing the ball from where it was sitting on the ground.   "Sorry, forgot I wasn't to move," Jackie said guiltily while trying to remember where the ball had been placed.

"That's fine, just leave it there.  I can add those in afterwards." Philippa started sketching knowing that she didn't have long before Jackie would move again.  Erna she wasn't too worried about moving.  She'd had learned somewhere to sit silently and not move a muscle.   After three or four sketches she thought she'd be able to work with Flip released Jackie and Erna back to their game.  As she moved off to get her oils Philippa heard Jackie quietly ask Erna why she wanted to send Jackie's mom a gift.

 

**Pauline and Ariel**

**  
**1950

Flip Hunter

National Gallery of Art

A dignified looking girl stands with a dog at her feet. Looming over her in the background are the ruins of an old chateau.  Titled Pauline and Ariel, this picture was created for a school assignment.  Afterwards it was given as a gift to the Laurens.  Scholars believe that the chateau in the background may be the same one Flip Hunter mentioned in her memoirs.  

**~Spring 1950~**

 

The day Flip heard about the assignment in art class she knew what she wanted to paint, Pauline.  She just wasn't sure how she'd going to convince her to do it.   Pauline always seems to get uncomfortable when Flip attempted to sketch her after dinner.

Flip was going to try to approach her subtly, but failed when Pauline noticed her staring at her face even more than usual over dinner and asked why.

"I'm just trying to decide how I want to pose you for the traditional portrait that we're doing for class," Flip blurted out and then blushed at her forwardness. 

"I'm mean, if you're willing" Flip added.  Her ears stayed red in embarrassment at the look Pauline gave her. 

Pauline smiled at Flip and then thought for what felt like eternity to Flip but was really only a moment. "Okay, but only if it turns out well and I can give it afterwards to Mother and Father."

"I don't see Miss Redford having any problems with that, usually we just hang them in the classroom." Flip said, relieved that Pauline wasn't angry with her and was going to let her do this.

"If you don't mind heading out to the Chateau now with Ariel, I can start sketching you now, the light should be good down there for the next hour or so."

"That should work. I just need to let Father know where we're going before I do that."  Pauline said as she left the room.

The picture ends up being one of Flip's favorites and while she hated to see it go, she knew the Laurens like having the reminder of Paul since they didn't have any childhood pictures of him.  They ended up hanging it over their fireplace where she sees it every time she visits.  In it Pauline is standing and gazing at the viewer while Ariel sits at her feet and the Chateau that changed so many things sits quietly in the background.

 

**In Love**  

1950

Flip Hunter

Gift from the Flip Hunter Foundation, 2006

In this painting of Flip Hunter's, her father and a woman believed to be her stepmother gaze at each other while holding hands.  Especially noticeable here is the first known usage by Flip Hunter of the mixture of pastels and watercolors that she would later become famous for.  Also notice the use of ruins in the background.  These ruins will appear multiple times in her future works.

**~Fall 1950~**

 

Flip put down the letter she was reading with a big grin on her face and she ran to get Jackie.   She couldn't wait to share her news.

"Jackie, Jackie.  Father just wrote to let me know that he asked Percy to marry him and she said yes!"

Jackie squealed at the news and ran to give Flip a hug.  She'd met Flip's father and knew that he was a good match for Percy.  

"That's so exciting!  Did he say when they're getting married?  Are you going to be a bridesmaid?  Oh you're going to get to wear a gorgeous dress!"

"He didn't say much more than that in his letter, but he did say that he'll have a big surprise for me when they come to pick me up next break.  Do you think they mean to get married here?"  Jackie squealed at the thought of this and startled Flip. 

"That would be wonderful.  I really hope they do and I can convince my Mom to let me stay for it!  Are you going to get them a wedding gift?  You should paint their wedding portrait, I'm sure they'd love that."

Philippa hummed in thought, "My painting has been getting better and I have enough sketches of Percy and Dad from our trip to Italy this past summer that I might be able to put something together in time.  I'll definitely give it a try.  Thanks for the idea Jackie!"

Flip wasn't able to finish the picture in time for the wedding as it did end up being held right after the break started, but instead gave it to them on their first wedding anniversary.  She knew it wasn't perfect, but she was proud at how well she'd been able to capture the glow of happiness around her father and Percy.

 

**Five sketches of unknown model**

**  
**1949-1953?

Flip Hunter

Anonymous Collection

Here we have an unusual example of Flip Hunter's work.  These sketches are all for an unknown work and show the same model in several different poses including a few nudes.  The model is believed to be Flip Hunters school friend Jackie Bernstein.  

 

**~Spring 1952~**

 

Jackie pulled Flip aside one morning before breakfast and asked her for a favor

"Erna loved that picture you painted for my Mom of the two of us playing jacks and you know I'm leaving after this semester.  Do you think you could do a painting of me for her and not let her know?"

Flip took a moment to mentally review her schedule.  The teachers hadn't given her too much work yet since it was early in the semester and if she kept the painting small she could keep in Pauline's room while it was drying.  It was definitely doable and Erna was already drooping about missing Jackie before Jackie even left.

"Sure, we should be able to arrange it between our schedules if we get started right away and maybe this will help prevent Erna from falling into a complete depression when you leave."  Flip told Jackie.  "When will you have time to sit for it?  I'll need you for at least 6 hours, but it doesn't have to be all on the same day."

"Thanks, this means a lot to me," Jackie said with a smile.  "If we could get up early these next couple of mornings and do it then that would be great.  Erna sleeps so heavily that she shouldn't notice if we leave early as long as I'm back with her coffee in time."

Flip made a face.  "I don't know how the two of you can drink that stuff.  Give me hot chocolate or tea any day.  The mornings will work and we should get some good light too which will help."

It ended up taking Philippa longer than she planned to finish the picture for Erna.  Her grades ended up getting hurt too due to how absorbed she became in finishing it before Jackie left, but eventually it was done.  The look in Erna's eyes when she thanked Philippa afterwards made the sacrifice worth it.  The next semester whenever the empty space left behind by Jackie grew too huge Erna would disappear and Flip would sometimes find her hidden away holding the picture close.

 

**Sketches of Mademoiselle Dragonet guarding her treasure**

**  
**1953

Flip Hunter

Musee National d'Art Moderne

Unfortunately the painting these sketches were for was destroyed in the fire that closed down the school in 1986, but reproductions of it by former students of the school do still exist as do pictures.  Here Flip Hunter used her gift of caricature to turn the school's headmistress, Madame Dragonet into a recognizable dragon.  Supposedly Madame Dragonet was so pleased by the final product that she had it hung in her parlor for prospective parents to see.

 

**~Summer of 1953~**

Flip had come to her school once she found her place and before she graduated she wanted to make an impression on it.  The school didn't need another painting of it; there were plenty of those decorating its walls from other students.  Flip sat down one warm afternoon on the balcony overlooking the valley and tried a few different sketches to see if one would spark something.  She started with Mademoiselle Dragonet standing regally on the stairway, but that was too traditional.  Then she tried a scene set at dinner, with all the girls about to eat, but it still didn't speak to her.  Getting frustrated Flip started just sketching random thoughts as they came into her head.  It wasn't until she glanced down and saw the dragon that she was drawing that something sparked.

"That's it," Flip thought as she quickly sketched in the rest of the details now that she knew what it should look like.  "That'll make the perfect thank you gift."

Flip spent the next six weeks hiding her project from everyone as she worked on it.  It wasn't easy, while Jackie had left the year before and Gloria had been expelled long ago, there were still her current roommates and Erna determined to find out what this secret project was devoted to. 

"Really, Flip you're being silly.  I've been your roommate for four years now.  You know I can keep a secret and I would keep yours." Erna said lounging back in her chair while she watched Philippa try to subtly hide what she'd been working on.  "After all you've kept mine about Jackie for the last two years."

"I want this picture to be a surprise to everyone Erna, and that includes you."  Flip frowned.  "Now go away or I'll never get this done on time."

"Talking to me is just delaying the inevitable you know, you still need to tell Jackie that you've been accepted to medical school and are going there in the fall."  Flip added. 

"But what if she doesn't join me because she's found some guy she wants to marry instead?"  Erna's face seemed to collapse at the mere thought of that happening.

"Then you dive back into medicine and eventually find someone else," Flip gave up on trying to work on the painting and turned to Erna reaching down to give her a hand.  "You know she loves you.  Hopefully that'll be enough.   Let's go see if we can drag Sally out of the music room and go for a walk. I don't think I can get anything more done on this picture tonight."

Eventually, somehow Flip was able to finish the painting and while she could always find things to criticize in her own works, she knew this was one of her best yet.  The perspective was decent and you could see Mademoiselle Dragonet's features in the dragons face.  St. Dragon guarding the castle, just like she guarded their time at the school, allowing them the space they needed to grow. 

 

 


End file.
